mmaboutsfandomcom-20200214-history
Frank Edgar
Frankie 'The Answer' Edgar is the former UFC lightweight champion, holding victories over B.J. Penn, Gray Maynard and Sean Sherk. He has also competed at featherweight. Defending His Title Edgar most recently dominated an immediate rematch defending the belt against B.J. Penn, winning another unanimous decision against a beleaguered Penn. He next defended his belt in a rematch against Gray Maynard. The pair fought to an extremely controversial split draw, and Edgar retained the belt. Maynard lost every single round except the first, which he unfortunately won dominantly with a possible 10-7 score. Dana White nixed the title shot that he had handed to WEC champion Anthony Pettis before the fight and gave Maynard an immediate rematch. Less than a month before the bout, both fighters suffered training injuries and had to pull out. The fight was soon rescheduled and eagerly anticipated by both men and their legions of fans. Edgar had another rocky first round but pulled out a fourth round technical knockout victory. Edgar suffered a broken nose in the victory. After the fight, many MMA experts saw Edgar as having secured his spot as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. After the fight, Edgar was called out by another P4P contender in the UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo. Rumors of a possible superfight between the two UFC stars circulated. Losing the Belt Instead, Edgar next signed up to defend his lightweight title for the fourth time against former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson in the UFC's return to Japan. Henderson defeated Edgar via unanimous decision after a very exciting fight at the end of which Edgar's left eye was swollen almost completely shut. Edgar showed his signature heart and determination despite losing his prized belt to Henderson. Rumors again abounded about Edgar dropping down to featherweight to try to take Aldo's title at 145 pounds. Instead, Edgar maintained that he wanted an immediate rematch against Henderson for the UFC lightweight title that had until recently been his. He received the immediate rematch and it was scheduled for the summer of 2012. Henderson defeated Edgar for the second straight time via an extremely controversial split decision. An overwhelming majority of fans and analysts scored the fight in Edgar's favor but there would be no more rematches for Edgar. Overdue Drop to 145 Instead, he officially announced his intentions to finally drop to the 145 pound featherweight division. About a month after the second Henderson fight, Edgar took the opportunity to replace featherweight contender Erik Koch to fight UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 153 in Aldo's native Brazil. Aldo was injured and the fight was canceled and rescheduled for UFC 156 in February 2013. Aldo defeated Edgar via a very close and controversial unanimous decision, handing Edgar his third straight loss in a row and the second straight controversial loss in a row. Edgar stated that he would take time to rethink his career but that he thought he had won the fight. Edgar next called out contenders Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver. Instead he next faced fellow former lightweight and jiu jitsu ace Charles Oliveira. After an excellent fight Edgar defeated Oliveira via unanimous decision. Fights against featherweight contender Chad Mendes and former WEC featherweight champion and bantamweight contender Urijah Faber were bandied about. Second Title Run Instead Edgar next signed to coach the nineteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter ending in a trilogy-ending fight -- at featherweight -- with former rival B.J. Penn. The fight took place a year after the Oliveira fight and was quite the sad sight with Edgar dominating a visibly diminished Penn en route to a third round technical knockout. Edgar next fought contender Cub Swanson dominating Swanson for the entire fight before submitting him with four seconds left in the fifth and final round with a rear-naked face crank submission. Edgar then had a superfight in the Philippines with former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber, winning a dominant but not very memorable unanimous decision. Edgar next faced contender Chad Mendes knocking Mendes out in the very first round to finally earn another shot at the title, now held by brash Irishman Conor McGregor. McGregor unfortunately decided to play touchbutt at 170 pounds for a while so an interim title rematch between Jose Aldo and Edgar was set up for the landmark UFC 200 event. In a close and tactical chess match sort of fight Aldo ultimately came out victorious via unanimous decision and Edgar was sent right back to the drawing board. Edgar made no complaints or excuses, merely getting back to work signing to fight hard-hitting contender Jeremy Stephens. Fights * Frank Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin - The fight was Edgar's UFC debut, and it was considered one of the most exciting and fast-paced fights in UFC history, especially at that time. Both fighters came into the fight undefeated, and Griffin suffered his first mixed martial arts defeat. *Frank Edgar vs. Mark Bocek - The fight was Mark Bocek's UFC debut. *Gray Maynard vs. Frank Edgar 1 - The fight was the first and thus only loss for Edgar. Both men came into the fight undefeated, which is unsurprisingly rare. *Frank Edgar vs. Hermes Franca - Edgar gained the win by dominant decision, avoiding constant threatening submission attempts from Franca. *B.J. Penn vs. Frank Edgar 1 - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with B.J. Penn defending. The fight was considered a controversial decision, but indeed Edgar deserved the belt that he won and he became the number-one lightweight in the world with the victory. Nevertheless, for some reason an immediate rematch was granted to Penn. The fight also marked the first time that Penn had been taken down at lightweight in over six years. *Frank Edgar vs. B.J. Penn 2 - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Edgar defending. The fight was the last lightweight fight in the career of B.J. Penn. *Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 - The fight was for the UFC lighteight title with Edgar defending. Gray Maynard came into the fight undefeated. The fight ended in a controversial draw and an immediate rematch was scheduled. *Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3 - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Edgar defending. The fight was the first official loss for Gray Maynard. *Ben Henderson vs. Frank Edgar - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Edgar defending. *Frank Edgar vs. Ben Henderson 2 - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Ben Henderson defending. *Frank Edgar vs. Cub Swanson *Frank Edgar vs. Chad Mendes *Jose Aldo vs. Frank Edgar 2 - The fight was for the UFC interim featherweight title. Category:Featherweight fighters Category:Lightweight fighters Category:UFC lightweight champions Category:Fight of the Night winners Category:Knockout of the Night winners